By Associated Press
Montgomery AL – A judge has refused to take the governor and Legislature off the hook on a $63 million budget issue.
Montgomery County Circuit Judge William Shashy ruled April 15 that Riley erred when he put $63 million in the state's General Fund budget rather than into a state savings account called the Alabama Trust Fund. The judge ordered the money moved to the Alabama Trust Fund. The money came from Alabama's verdict in a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil over natural gas royalties.
Riley had asked the judge to put his order on hold while Riley appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court. But the judge refused in a one-paragraph order Tuesday.
Riley and legislative budget writers had hoped to use the $63 million to help balance the General Fund budget for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.
Tuscaloosa businessman Stan Pate filed the suit that prompted Shashy's ruling.